Top Dividend Stocks To Buy For 2014: October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Top Shipping Companies To Invest In Right Now

Top Shipping Companies To Invest In Right Now: Boise Inc (BZ)

Boise Inc., incorporated on February 1, 2007, is a manufacturer of packaging and paper products, including corrugated containers and sheets, containerboard, protective packaging products, imaging papers for the office and home, printing and converting papers, label and release papers, newsprint and market pulp. The Company operates in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Canada. The Company operates in three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Company's newsprint is sold primarily to newspaper publishers in the southern and southwestern the United States. During the year ended December 31, 2012, approximately 38% of the Company's uncoated freesheet paper was sold to OfficeMax Incorporated, its customer.

Packaging

In the Packaging segment, the Company manufactures and sells linerboard, containerboard, corrugated containers and sheets, protective packaging products, and newsprint. Linerboard is a paperboard, which when com bined with corrugating medium is used in the manufacture of corrugated sheets and containers. Corrugated sheets are containerboard sheets that are sold primarily to converters that produce a variety of corrugated products. Corrugated containers are corrugated sheets that have been fed through converting machines to create containers, which are used in the packaging of fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products. Stock boxes are corrugated containers manufactured to pre-set dimensions.

Protective packaging products include multi-material customized packaging solutions, which may utilize kraft paper-based honeycomb corrugated packaging, foamed plastics, and air pocket packing materials Newsprint is a paper commonly used for printing newspapers, other publications, and advertising material. During the yea! r ended December 31, 2012, its Packaging segment produced approximately 613,000 short tons of linerboard, and its Paper segment produced approximately 135,000 short tons! of corrugating medium. It manufactures linerboard and newsprint on two machines at its mill in DeRidder, Louisiana. It also manufactures corrugated containers and sheets and protective packaging products at 26 plants located in North America and Europe.

Paper

In its Paper segment, the Company manufactures and sells three general categories of products: communication-based papers; packaging-based papers, and market pulp. Its communication-based papers include cut-size office papers, and printing and converting papers. Its Packaging-Demand-Driven Papers include Label and release papers, Flexible packaging papers, and Corrugating medium. Printing and converting papers are used by commercial printers or converters to manufacture envelopes, forms, and other commercial paper products.

Its packaging-based papers include label and release papers and corrugating medium. The Label and release papers include label facestocks, as well as release l iners. The coated and uncoated papers sold to customers create packaging products for food and nonfood applications. Market pulp is sold to customers in the open market for use in the manufacture of paper products. The Company manufactures its Paper segment products at three mills, all located in the United States.

Corporate and Other

The Company's Corporate and Other segment includes transportation assets, such as rail cars and trucks, which it uses to transport its products from its manufacturing sites. The Company provides transportation services not only to its own facilities but also, on a limited basis, to third parties. Rail cars and trucks are typically leased.

The Company competes with International Paper Company, Rock-Tenn Company, Georgia-Pacific LLC, Packaging Corporation of America, Longview Fibre Paper, Pac! kaging, I! nc, Green Bay Packaging Inc., KapStone Paper, TexCorr, L.P., Resolute Forest Product, SP Newsprint Co. and Domtar Corporation.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Sue Chang]
PCA, the Packaging Corp. of America (PKG) , is likely to post third-quarter earnings of 89 cents a share. The company said last month it would buy Boise Inc. (BZ) for $12.55 a share, or about $1.28 billion in total. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Lake Forest, Ill.-based PCA makes a wide line of linerboard and corrugated paper packaging products at four mills and 71 plants, according to its website.
[By Christopher Freeburn]
Under the deal, which is expected to close during the fourth quarter, Packaging Corp. will pay $12.55 a share, or $1.27 billion, for Boise (BZ). That represents a 26% premium over the target’s last closing price, the Associated Press noted.

source from Top Stocks For 2015:http://www.topstocksblog.com/top-shipping-companies-to-invest-in-right-now.html

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014

Getty Images CHICAGO -- Unexplained rash? Check your iPad. It turns out the popular tablet computer may contain nickel, one of the most common allergy-inducing metals. Recent reports in medical journals detail nickel allergies from a variety of personal electronic devices, including laptops and cellphones. But it was an Apple (AAPL) iPad that caused an itchy body rash in an 11-year-old boy recently treated at a San Diego hospital, according to a report in Monday's Pediatrics. Nickel rashes aren't life-threatening but they can be very uncomfortable, and they may require treatment with steroids and antibiotics if the skin eruptions become infected, said Dr. Sharon Jacob, a dermatologist at Rady Children's Hospital, where the boy was treated. Jacob, who co-wrote the report, said the young patient had to miss school because of the rash. The boy had a common skin condition that causes scaly patches, but he developed a different rash all over his body that didn't respond to usual treatment. Skin testing showed he had a nickel allergy, and doctors traced it to an iPad his family had bought in 2010. Doctors tested the device and detected a chemical compound found in nickel in the iPad's outside coating. "He used the iPad daily," she said. He got better after putting it in a protective case, she said Whether all iPad models and other Apple devices contain nickel is uncertain; Apple spokesman Chris Gaither said the company had no comment. Nickel rashes also have been traced to other common products including some jewelry, eyeglass frames and zippers. Jacob said evidence suggests nickel allergies are become more common, or increasingly recognized. She cited national data showing that about 25 percent of children who get skin tests for allergies have nickel allergies, versus about 17 percent a decade ago.

Best Electric Utility Companies To Own For 2015: Sensient Technologies Corp (SXT)

Sensient Technologies Corporation, incorporated on December 07, 1882, is a global manufacturer and marketer of colors, flavors and fragrances. Sensient uses advanced technologies at facilities around the world to develop specialty food and beverage systems, cosmetic and pharmaceutical systems, inkjet and specialty inks and colors, and other specialty and chemicals. The Company�� customers include international manufacturers representing some of the Known brands. The Company operates in two segments: Flavors & Fragrances Group and the Color Group. The Asia Pacific and the China Groups are included in the Corporate & Other category, along with the Company�� corporate expenses. The Company's principal products include: flavors, flavor enhancers and bionutrients; fragrances and aroma chemicals; dehydrated vegetables and other food ingredients; natural and synthetic food and beverage colors; cosmetic and pharmaceutical colors and additives; and technical colors, inkjet colors and inks, and specialty dyes and pigments.

Flavors & Fragrances Group

The Company is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of flavor and fragrance systems for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care and household-products industries. The Company�� flavor formulations are used in consumer products. Under the unified brand names of Sensient Flavors, Sensient Dehydrated Flavors and Sensient Fragrances, the Company is a supplier to multinational companies. The Flavors & Fragrances Group produces flavor and fragrance products, which impart a taste, texture, aroma and/or other characteristics to a range of consumer and other products. It includes the Company�� dehydrated flavors business, which produces ingredients for food processors. The products are systems products, including flavor-delivery systems, and compounded and blended products. In addition, the Company is engaged in selected ingredient products, such as essential oils, natural and synthetic flavors, and aroma chemicals. The Company ! serves food and non-food industries. In food industries, markets include savory, beverage, dairy, confectionery and bakery flavors. In non-food industries, the Company supplies fragrance products to the personal and home-care markets and supplies flavor products to the pharmaceuticals market.

Operating through the Company�� Sensient Dehydrated Flavors business, the Company is produces dehydrated onion and garlic products in the United States. The Company is also producers and distributors of chili powder, paprika, chili pepper and dehydrated vegetables, such as parsley, celery and spinach. Domestically, the Company sells dehydrated products to food manufacturers for use as ingredients and also for repackaging under private labels for sale to the retail market and to the food service industry. In addition, Sensient Dehydrated Flavors is dehydrators of specialty vegetables in Europe. The Flavors & Fragrances Group operates through the Company's subsidiaries Sensient Flavors LLC and Sensient Dehydrated Flavors LLC. The Company�� principal manufacturing plants are located in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Belgium, Canada, the People�� Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Color Group

The Company is a developer, manufacturer and supplier of colors for businesses globally. The Company provides natural and synthetic color systems for use in foods, beverages and pharmaceuticals; colors and other ingredients for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and technical colors for industrial applications and digital imaging. The Company sells its synthetic and natural colors to domestic and international producers of beverages, bakery products, processed foods, confections, pet foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The Company also makes inkjet inks and other dyes and pigments used in a variety of non-food applications.

The Color Group operates through the Company's subsidiary Sensient Col! ors LLC. ! Its principal manufacturing plants are located in California, Missouri, New Jersey, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The Color Group operates under trade names of Sensient Food Colors (food and beverage colors); Sensient Pharmaceutical Coating Systems (pharmaceutical colors and coatings); Sensient Cosmetic Technologies (cosmetic colors and ingredients and systems). and Sensient Industrial Colors (including paper colors; industrial colors for plastics, leather, wood stains, antifreeze and other uses; inkjet colors and inks; specialty inks, and display imaging).

Asia Pacific and China Groups

The Asia Pacific Group and the China Group focus on marketing the Company�� diverse product line in the Pacific Rim under the Sensient name. Through these operations, the Company offers a range of products from its Flavors & Fragrances Group and Color Group, as well as products developed by regional technical teams to appeal to local preferences. Sales, marketing and technical functions are managed through the Asia Pacific Group's headquarters in Australia. Manufacturing operations are located in Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Philippines. The Asia Pacific Group maintains offices for research and development, as well as sales, in India, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Sensient Technologies (NYSE: SXT ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014: Zoltek Companies Inc (ZOLT)

Zoltek Companies, Inc. is a holding company, which operates through wholly owned subsidiaries, Zoltek Corporation, Zoltek Zrt., Zoltek de Mexico SA de CV, Zoltek de Occidente SA de CV, Engineering Technology Corporation (Entec Composite Machines), Zoltek Properties, Inc., and Zoltek Automotive, LLC. Zoltek Corporation (Zoltek) develops, manufactures and markets carbon fibers and technical fibers in the United States. The Company is an applied technology and advanced materials company. It commercialization of carbon fiber through composites used in a range of commercial products, which it sells under the Panex trade name. In addition to manufacturing carbon fiber, it produces an intermediate product, a stabilized and oxidized acrylic fiber used in flame- and heat-resistant applications, which it sells under the Pyron trade name. During fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 (fiscal 2011), its net sales to Vestas Wind Systems, a wind turbine manufacturer represented % of its net sales. In October 2011, Zoltek purchased a building in St. Peters, Missouri to house its prepreg operations.

Zoltek Zrt. is a Hungarian subsidiary that manufactures and markets carbon fibers and technical fibers and manufactures acrylic fiber precursor raw material used in production of carbon fibers and technical fibers. Zoltek de Mexico SA de CV and Zoltek de Occidente SA de CV are Mexican subsidiaries that manufacture carbon fiber and precursor raw material. Entec Composite Machines manufactures and markets filament winding and pultrusion equipment used in the production composite parts. The Company�� sales markets are in Europe and the United States. The Company has manufacturing plants in Nyergesujfalu, Hungary, Guadalajara, Mexico, Abilene, Texas and St. Charles, Missouri. Its Texas plant houses carbon fiber manufacturing lines and value-added processing capabilities. Its Missouri plant is engaged in the production of technical fibers for aircraft brake and other friction applications and also produces limited! amounts of carbon fibers. In addition, it has facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah where it designs and builds composite manufacturing equipment and produce resin pre-impregnated carbon fibers, called prepregs. It performs certain downstream processing, such as weaving, knitting, blending with other fibers, chopping and milling and preparation of pre-form, pre-cut stacks of fabric. In addition, its Salt Lake City-based Entec Composite Machines subsidiary designs and builds composite manufacturing equipment and markets the equipment along with manufacturing technology and materials. It also provides composite design and engineering for development of applications for carbon fiber reinforced composites.

The Company competes with Hexcel Corporation, Cytec Industries, Toray Group, Toho Tenax, Mitsubishi Chemical and SGL Carbon.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Maxx Chatsko]
Shares of world-leading carbon fiber manufacturer�Zoltek� (NASDAQ: ZOLT ) �have been pushed to new highs after a frantic attempt by Quinpario Partners to acquire a large position in the company. Despite being turned away by management, the fund does make valid points about the company's general lack of progress given its global scope and potential. Investors in this business built around a game-changing material may be worrying whether shares are about to fall back to earth. In the following video, Fool.com contributor Maxx Chatsko gives at least one reason for investors to think that shares can hold their current levels -- or even trek higher.
[By Maxx Chatsko]
3. Zoltek (NASDAQ: ZOLT )
Zoltek was an interesting investment at the beginning of the year for futurist investors. The company is one of the largest manufacturers of carbon fiber in the world. In fact, its lightweight and high-strength carbon fiber is used almost exclusively in the largest wind turbine blades around the world and played a major role in America's 20-fold improvement in breezy energy capacity since 2000. This material of the future has many other uses and potential uses as well, but Zoltek has never really gained the confidence of the market in any big way: Its market cap was hovering near $300 million at the start of the year.
[By Lauren Pollock]
Toray Industries Inc.(3402.TO), the global market leader in carbon fiber, agreed to buy smaller rival Zoltek Cos.(ZOLT) in a deal valued at $584 million. The Japanese synthetic-fiber maker offered $16.75 a share, a 9.5% discount to Thurday’s close. Zoltek has struggled amid what it has called a cyclical downturn in the wind energy market. Zoltek shares dropped 10% to $16.58 in light premarket trading.

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014: Balchem Corp (BCPC)

Balchem Corporation incorporated on Jan 30, 1967, is engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of specialty performance ingredients and products for the food, nutritional, feed, pharmaceutical and medical sterilization industries. The Company operates in three segments: Specialty Products, Food, Pharma & Nutrition and Animal Nutrition & Health. The Company sells its products through its own sales force, independent distributors and sales agents. The Company operates five wholly owned domestic subsidiaries, such as BCP Ingredients, Inc., Aberco, Inc., Balchem BV, Balchem Trading BV and Balchem Italia Srl.

Food, Pharma & Nutrition

The Food, Pharma & Nutrition (FPN) segment provides microencapsulation solutions to a variety of applications in food, pharmaceutical and nutritional ingredients to enhance performance of nutritional fortification, processing, mixing, and packaging applications and shelf-life. Major product applications are baked goods, refrigerated and frozen dough systems, processed meats, seasoning blends, confections, and nutritional supplements. The Company also markets human grade choline nutrient products through this segment for wellness applications.

Specialty Products

The Company's Specialty Products segment operates in industry as ARC Specialty Products. Ethylene oxide, at the 100% level, is sold as a sterilant gas, primarily for use in the health care industry. It is used to sterilize a wide range of medical devices because of its versatility and effectiveness in treating hard or soft surfaces, composites, metals, tubing and different types of plastics. The Company's 100% ethylene oxide product is distributed in uniquely designed, recyclable, double-walled, stainless steel drums. Contract sterilizers, medical device manufacturers, and medical gas distributors are the Company's principal customers for this product. In addition, the Company also sells single use canisters with 100% ethylene oxide for uses in medical dev! ice sterilization.

The Company markets and sells propylene oxide as a fumigant to aids in the control of insects and microbiological spoilage and to reduce bacterial and mold contamination in shell and processed nut meats (except peanuts), processed spices, cacao beans, cocoa powder, raisins, figs and prunes. The Company distributes its propylene oxide product primarily in recyclable, single-walled, carbon steel cylinders The Company also sells propylene oxide to customers seeking smaller quantities and whose requirements include utilization in various chemical synthesis applications, to make paints more durable and for manufacturing specialty starches and textile coatings.

Animal Nutrition & Health

The Company's Animal Nutrition & Health (ANH) segment provides the animal nutrition and health markets with products derived from the Company's microencapsulation, chelation, and basic choline chloride technologies. Commercial sales of REASHURE Choline, a microencapsulated choline, NITROSHURETM, a microencapsulated urea, and NIASHURETM, the Company's microencapsulated niacin for dairy cows, boosts health and milk production in transition and lactating dairy cows, delivering nutrient supplements that survive the rumen and are biologically available, providing required nutritional levels. The Company's AMINOSHURE-L product, a rumen-protected lysine for use in dairy rations, gives nutritionists and dairy producers a precise and consistent source of rumen-protected lysine. The Company also markets chelated mineral supplements for uses in animal feed throughout the world. ANH also manufactures and supplies basic choline chloride, an essential nutrient for animal health, predominantly to the poultry and swine industries. The ANH segment also includes choline and certain derivatives manufactured and sold into various industrial applications, predominately as a component for hydraulic fracturing of shale natural gas wells, and methylamines which are a primary building block fo! r the man! ufacture of choline products and are also used in a wide range of industrial applications.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
Balchem (NASDAQ: BCPC) shares shot up 14.18 percent to $59.51 after the company announced its plans to acquire SensoryEffects for $567 million.

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014: Cytec Industries Inc (CYT)

Cytec Industries Inc/De/, formerly Cytec Industries Inc., incorporated on December 17, 1993, is a specialty chemicals and materials company focused on developing, manufacturing and selling value-added products. Its products serve a diverse range of end markets, including aerospace and industrial materials, mining and plastics. The Company has four business segments: Engineered Materials, Umeco, In-Process Separation and Additive Technologies. Engineered Materials segment principally includes advanced composites, carbon fiber, and structural film adhesives. The Umeco segment includes composite and process materials, primarily for the aerospace and defense, wind energy, automotive, recreation and other industrial segments. The In Process Separation segment includes mining chemicals and phosphines. The Additive Technologies segment includes polymer additives, specialty additives and formulated resins. On July 20, 2012, the Company acquired Umeco plc.

Engineered Materials

The Engineered Materials segment is a global provider of technologically advanced materials for aerospace, high-performance industrial and other extreme-demand markets. Its primary product lines are advanced aerospace composites and structural adhesives, High performance industrial materials and Carbon fibers. Its major products in the advanced aerospace composites include aerospace- qualified prepregs, resin infusion systems and structural/surfacing adhesives. Its principal applications include commercial airliners, regional and business jets, military aircraft, including rotorcraft, satellites and launch vehicles. The products in the high performance industrial materials include Industrial-grade prepregs, resin infusion systems and structural/surfacing adhesives. Its applications include high performance automotive, defense, tooling and alternative energy. The products in carbon fibers include high performance fiber carbon fibers. Its applications include reinforcements for advanced aerospace and industrial c! omposites.

The Company is a supplier to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and F-18 fighter jet programs. It is also a supplier for the business and regional jet market, supporting programs, such as Bombardier�� CSeries and LearJet85. It also manufactures specialty adhesive forms for complex composites assemblies, such as honeycomb and sandwich structures and special surfacing films to provide aircraft lightning strike protection. It manufactures and sells various high-performance grades of both polyacrylonitrile (PAN) type and pitch type carbon fibers used as a reinforcement material for aerospace and other extreme-demand and high-performance composites.

The Company�� High Performance Industrial Materials (HPIM) product line strategy is to leverage its composites, adhesives and resin technologies across multiple industrial markets. The Company supplies composites and adhesives to a spectrum of markets, such as high performance and luxury low-rate serial automotive, defense, and alternative energy.

Umeco

Umeco�� primary product lines are High performance composites structural materials/solutions and Composite process materials/solutions. Its major products in the High performance composites structural materials/solutions include Aerospace-qualified prepregs, Industrial-grade prepreg. Its principal applications include large commercial airliners, military aircraft, high performance automotive, defense, tooling, recreation, industrial and alternative energy. The products in Composite process materials/solutions include Process materials/solutions including vacuum bagging, release films and sealant tapes. Its principal applications include large commercial airliners, military aircraft, high performance automotive, defense, tooling, recreation, industrial and alternative energy and Process materials for the forming, infusion, curing of composite structures.

The Company�� structural materials product line includes the development, manufa! cturing a! nd supply of advanced composite materials. It specializes in the manufacture of composite materials for a range of industries such as aerospace and defense, marine, motor sport and automotive, construction, wind energy, and recreation.

In-Process Separation

The In-Process Separation segment includes mining chemicals and phosphines. The Company�� mining chemicals product line include flotation promoters, collectors, frothers, dispersants and depressants, solvent extractants, flocculants, filter and dewatering aids, antiscalants, and defoamers . Its principal applications include mineral separation and processing for copper, alumina, cobalt, nickel, and other minerals. Its Phosphines include flame retardants, catalyst ligands, high purity phosphine gas and biocides.

Its phospine based specialty products are used primarily in the pharmaceutical, chemical and electronic manufacturing, and fumigation. Its patented MaxHT antiscalant is sold for suppressing sodalite scale formation. Its phosphine specialties are utilized for a variety of applications. It is a supplier of ultra- high purity phosphine gas, used in semiconductor manufacturing and light emitting diode applications, various phosphine derivative products, including phosphonium salts used in pharmaceutical catalysts and biocides. Included in the phosphine line are organo phosphorus compounds. The compounds are used primarily as intermediates and catalyst ligands for organic and chemical synthesis in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries.

Additive Technologies

The Additive Technologies segment includes polymer additives specialty additives and Formulated resins. Polymer additives include ultraviolet light stabilizers and absorbers, high performance antioxidants and antistatic agents. Its applications include plastics, coatings, and fibers for: agricultural films, automotive parts, architectural lighting, housewares, packaging, outdoor furniture, sporting goods, toys and apparel.! Specialt! y additives include surfactants, specialty monomers, resin amines, and PTZ Phenothiazine. Its Formulated resins are used in for bonding or sealing of electrical and electronic components.

The Company markets its Additive Technologies chemicals through specialized sales and technical service staffs for each of its product lines. Sales are usually made directly to customers and through distributors to smaller customers. The Company is a global supplier to the plastics industry of specialty additives, which protect plastics from the ultraviolet radiation of sunlight and from oxidation. It is a global supplier of sulfosuccinate surfactants, Docusate sodium, and PTZ phenothiazine. Sulfosuccinate surfactants and acrylamide-based specialty monomers products are used in emulsion polymers, paints, paper coatings, printing inks, and other diverse customer applications. Docusate is a pharmaceutical grade product used as both an active ingredient and excipient/formulating aid. PTZ phenothiazine is primarily used as an acrylic acid, acrylic ester and methacrylate monomer stabilizer.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Duprey]
Specialty chemicals and materials maker Cytec Industries� (NYSE: CYT ) announced this morning that it will be completing its previously authorized $650 million share repurchase program that it had announced last October, and the board of directors has authorized a new $200 million buyback plan.
[By alicet236]
Vice President and CFO of Cytec Industries Inc. (CYT) David Drillock sold 49,038 shares on July 21 at an average price of $107.06. The total transaction amount was $5,250,008.
[By Stoyan Bojinov]
The New Jersey-based specialty chemicals maker, Cytec Industries (CYT), announced third quarter operating results after the closing bell on Thursday that topped analysts’ estimates.

Cytec Industries managed to rake in revenues of $464 million last quarter, falling short of the projected $482.61 million figure. The company did manage to beat the mark, however, in terms of earnings per share; in the third quarter Cytec generated EPS of $1.32, beating the expected EPS of $1.34 by two pennies.

Looking back, the most recent quarterly results are well above the 91 cents EPS seen in Q3 exactly one year ago. Looking ahead, the company expects FY2013 EPS of $4.70-$4.80 compared to the consensus of $4.82.

Cytec Industries shares rallied higher on Thursday, gaining 0.58% on the day. The stock is up 25% YTD.

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014: Olin Corp (OLN)

Olin Corporation, incorporated on August 13, 1892, is a manufacturer focused in three business segments: Chlor Alkali Products, Chemical Distribution and Winchester. Chlor Alkali Products manufactures and sells chlorine and caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products and potassium hydroxide. Chemical Distribution manufactures bleach products and distributes caustic soda, bleach products, potassium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid. Winchester products include sporting ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and components, and industrial cartridges. On August 22, 2012, the Company acquired K. A. Steel Chemicals Inc. (KA Steel). KA Steel is a distributor of caustic soda in North America and manufactures and sells bleach in the Midwest.

The Company's subsidiary, Olin Canada ULC, operates one chlor alkali facility in Becancour, Quebec, which sells chlor alkali-related products within Canada and to the United States and also sells and distributes ammunition within Canada. The Company's subsidiary, Winchester Australia Limited, loads and packs sporting and industrial ammunition in Australia.

Chlor Alkali Products

The Company is engaged in the United States chlor alkali industry. Chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen are co-produced commercially by the electrolysis of salt. These co-products are produced simultaneously, and in a fixed ratio of one ton of chlorine to 1.1 tons of caustic soda and 0.03 tons of hydrogen. The Company also manufactures and sells other chlor alkali-related products. These products include chemically processed salt, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite (bleach), hydrogen, and potassium hydroxide. The Company refers to these other chlor alkali-related products as co-products. During the year ended December 31, 2012, sales of co-products represented approximately 32% of Chlor Alkali Products' sales.

The Company's chlorine/caustic soda products are used in pulp and paper processing, chemical! manufacturing, water purification, manufacture of vinyl chloride, bleach, swimming pool chemicals and urethane chemicals. Its sodium hypochlorite are used in household cleaners, laundry bleaching, swimming pool sanitizers, semiconductors, water treatment, textiles, pulp and paper, and food processing. Its hydrochloric acid are used in steel, oil and gas, plastics, organic chemical synthesis, water and wastewater treatment, brine treatment, artificial sweeteners, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and ore and mineral processing. Its potassium hydroxide is used in fertilizer manufacturing, soaps, detergents and cleaners, battery manufacturing, food processing chemicals and deicers. Its hydrogen is used in fuel source, hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid.

The Company competes with Dow Chemical Company and the Occidental Chemical Corporation.

Chemical Distribution

The Company's KA Steel comprises the Chemical Distribution segment. KA Steel is a distributor of caustic soda in North America and manufacturers and sells bleach in the Midwest. KA Steel also sells small quantities of potassium hydroxide and maintains infrastructure to be, a distributor of hydrochloric acid.

The Company competes with Univar Inc. and Brenntag AG.

Winchester

Winchester is a developer and manufacturer of small caliber ammunition for sale to domestic and international retailers (commercial customers), law enforcement agencies and domestic and international militaries. The Company's Winchester product line includes gauges and calibers of shotgun shells, rimfire and centerfire ammunition for pistols and rifles, reloading components and industrial cartridges. Its Winchester sporting ammunition, which include shot-shells, small caliber centerfire and rimfire ammunition, are used by hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies. Its small caliber military ammunition are used in infantry and mounted weapons. Its industrial products, which i! nclude ei! ght gauge loads & powder-actuated tool loads, are used in maintenance applications in power and concrete industries and powder-actuated tools in construction industry.

The Company competes with Alliant Techsystems Inc. and Remington Arms Company, Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Johanna Bennett]
Dow isn�� the only chemical play gaining on the news. �Axiall (AXLL) rose 9.3% to $49.58 in Monday market action. Olin (OLN) rose 6.1% to $26.36. And Westlake Chemical (WLK) rose 2.2% to $115.10.
[By Victor Selva]
The company has a current ratio of 17.8% which is higher than the industry mean of 6.55%. Also, it's higher than the one registered by Akzo Nobel NV (AKZOY), Cabot Corporation (CBT) and Olin Corporation (OLN). For investors looking for a higher ROE, PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) could be the option.
[By James Brumley]
Those seeking to capitalize on the now-waning firearm craze may be better off looking at ammunition makers like Olin Corporation (OLN). It got its own mania-driven sales bump in Q3, as owners of newly-purchased guns stocked up on bullets. But, at least there’s relatively stable recurring revenue in the ammo business, assuming all these recent gun buyers make occasional visits to the shooting range.
[By Steve Symington]
Meanwhile, Winchester ammunition manufacturer Olin (NYSE: OLN ) has benefited from a relentless upward trend in ammunition purchases, which it says began the Saturday before Election Day. As of the company's most recent quarterly results, Olin management bluntly stated that the demand has only been "limited by product availability."�

Hot Chemical Stocks To Buy For 2014: Celanese Corporation (CE)

Celanese Corporation, a technology and specialty materials company, engages in manufacture and sale of value-added chemicals, thermoplastic polymers, and other chemical-based products. It operates through four business segments: Advanced Engineered Materials, Consumer Specialties, Industrial Specialties, and Acetyl Intermediates. The Advanced Engineered Materials segment offers specialty polymers for application in automotive, medical, and electronics products, as well as other consumer and industrial applications. The Consumer Specialties segment provides cellulose acetate flake, film, and tow that are primarily used in filter products applications; Sunett, a sweetener; and food protection ingredients, such as sorbates and sorbic acid for the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. The Industrial Specialties segment produces emulsions and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) performance polymers. Its emulsions products are used in applications, such as paints and coatings, adhesives, construction, glass fiber, textiles, and paper; and EVA performance polymers are used in flexible packaging films, lamination film products, hot melt adhesives, medical products, automotive, carpeting and photovoltaic cells. The Acetyl Intermediates segment offers acetyl products, including acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, acetic anhydride, and acetate esters for use as starting materials for colorants, paints, adhesives, coatings, and medicines. It also provides organic solvents and intermediates for pharmaceutical, agricultural, and chemical products. The company offers its products directly, as well as through distributors and electronic marketplaces in North America, Europe, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and South America. Celanese Corporation was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Marc Bastow]
Chemical products manufacturer Celanese (CE) raised its quarterly dividend 39% to 25 cents per share payable payable on May 16 to shareholders of record May 5.
CE Dividend Yield: 1.69%
[By Magic Diligence]
Given this fact, and the fact that consumer electronics (CE) is a cyclical industry, flash supply and demand balance is very tenuous. Frantic production to catch up to demand often leads to dramatic over-supply when the CE market cools off. One needs only to look at SanDisk's financials to see this. The company swung from a $917 dollar operations loss in 2008 to a $1.5 billion dollar profit in 2011, and which was then cut in half to just a $700 million profit the following year!
[By Monica Gerson]
Celanese (NYSE: CE) is estimated to report its Q3 earnings at $1.04 per share on revenue of $1.59 billion.

Posted-In: Earnings scheduleEarnings News Pre-Market Outlook Markets
[By Travis Hoium]
What: Shares of chemical maker Celanese (NYSE: CE ) jumped as much as 16% today after the company released earnings.

So what: Revenue fell slightly in the first quarter, to $1.61 billion, but adjusted earnings per share jumped 44%, to $1.14. Revenue was in line with expectations, and earnings crushed the $0.79 that analysts expected.�

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Adobe Aims to Improve with New Business Model

Top 10 Quality Companies To Buy Right Now

Adobe Systems (ADBE) has focused on a change of business model to increase its growth in the long run. As a result, its performance has continued to improve. For example, the Marketing Cloud solutions of Adobe are gaining strong industry analyst recognition. It was recognized as a leader in Forrester's Web Analytics Wave report with excellent current offering, strategy, and market presence.

User satisfaction will power growth

Adobe has superb user satisfaction and retention, and Creative Cloud customers are expected to benefit from exciting new innovation in the second half of the year. There's an increasing leadership of the company in the digital marketing category. Overall, Adobe is witnessing strength in shifting the installed base as well as expanding its market with new user adoption.

There was strong adoption of the full Creative Cloud offering in the Creative Professional segment, with acceleration expected ahead. Creative Cloud for team subscriptions is now a major percentage of overall subscriptions and is estimated to grow further with increased channel focus. Adobe is expanding the overall opportunity with its Photoshop/Lightroom offering targeting the photography segment.

Adobe expects Creative Cloud adoption to continue to accelerate in the second half of fiscal 2014 with achieving approximately 3.3 million Creative Cloud subscriptions by the end of the year, which is 300,000 higher than its target of approximately 3 million given while entering the year. Further, it forecasts to add 424,000 new subscribers to its Creative Cloud product.

According to CFO Mark Garrett, the company currently focuses to drive strong revenue and earnings growth with its market – leading cloud offerings.

Valuation

According to Yahoo Finance, the trailing P/E and forward P/E ratios of 129.88 and 33.11, respectively, represent robust cost cutting efforts by the company. However, the industry average is still better at 17.62. In addition, its competitors Apple (APPL). and Microsoft (MSFT) have much more promising P/E ratios of 15.45 and 15.62 respectively. The PEG ratio of 4.67, above 1 depicts slow growth as compared to impressive growth for its competitors Apple and Microsoft with ratios of 0.95 and 2.28 respectively, which are very close to the industry's average of 1.45.

The profit margin is very nominal at 6.72%. The revenue per share and diluted EPS of 8.08 and 0.52 respectively indicates decline in earnings by the investors. The quarterly revenue growth and quarterly earnings growth of -0.80% and -27.80%, respectively, paints a gloomy picture. Apple has better growth of 5%. The current ratio of 1.87 is stable. Moreover, Adobe has satisfactory long-term growth as depicted by CAGR for the next 5 years per annum of 12.25% which is very close to the industry's average of 15.26%. Therefore, investors can invest into the stock and expect promising returns.

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12 Smart Ways to Spend Your Social Security COLA

Retirees, if you haven't already heard the good news, you'll be getting more from Social Security next year. Beneficiaries will receive a 1.7% cost-of-living adjustment in 2015, boosting the average monthly benefit for a retired worker from $1,306 to $1,328.

SEE ALSO: How Much Social Security Benefits Will Rise in 2015

That $22 extra each month will add up to $264 over a year. It's not a windfall, but the extra cash certainly will come in handy. In addition to covering everyday expenses, here are 12 ways retirees can best use their Social Security COLA increase.

Protect your identity. Scammers and identity thieves often target seniors. One way to prevent your personal information from falling into the wrong hands is to shred statements and other documents containing vital details such as account numbers after you no longer need them. A good cross-cut shredder costs about $100 (we found a Fellowes Powershred DS-2 model for $97.12 on Amazon.com). It might also pay to enroll in a credit monitoring service that can help if you do become a victim of identity theft. For $14.99 a month, TrustedID will monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity, scan black-market sites for your Social Security, credit card and bank account numbers, help you cancel and replace stolen cards, and provide insurance to cover costs you incur after identity theft.

Make a wise investment. Kiplinger recently pinpointed nine stocks with significant growth potential. Among our picks is Facebook, which is now trading at about $80 a share. So you could buy three shares with the extra $264 in Social Security benefits, and have change left over. Or consider a great mutual fund you can begin investing in for just $100.

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Modify your home to help you age in place. You can add a grab bar in a bathroom for about $100 to $175, including materials and labor, according to Homewyse.com, a Web site that estimates home-improvement costs. Or you can replace doorknobs with easy-to-use lever-style handles for about $15 to $25 each for non-locking interior levers and $25 to $50 for lockable levers, according to the National Association of Realtors' HouseLogic.com.

Take a defensive driving class. You can update your driving skills and perhaps even earn an auto insurance discount by taking a refresher course from organizations such as AARP and AAA. The AARP Smart Driver eight-hour online course is $17.95 for members, $21.95 for non-members. AAA offers defensive-driving courses starting at $19.95 for non-members in most states. AAA members can usually get a $4 discount, but check with your local AAA for exact pricing and availability.

Buy discounted gift cards. You can score instant savings by using discounted gift cards to purchase things you regularly buy. Gift card resale sites buy unwanted cards and sell them at a discount to face value. For example, we recently found a $250 CVS gift card selling for $225 at CardCash.com. A good site to visit to see offers from several resellers is Gift Card Granny.

Write a will. If you die without a will, state law will determine who gets what from your estate. It doesn't have to cost much to craft this important document. Downloadable forms are available from Web sites such as Nolo.com, which sells the Quicken WillMaker Plus for $59.99.

Purchase a home safe. You need a secure place to store important documents, such as a will. A fire-proof safe is the answer. We saw a two-hour fireproof Hollon safe for sale on ValueSafes.com starting at $234.

Fill gaps in your homeowner's policy. Most standard homeowners policies don't include sewage-backup coverage, but you can purchase a rider that will pay for $10,000 to $20,000 of damages for about $50 a year. You might also want to boost your liability coverage with an umbrella policy, which is an inexpensive way to protect yourself from lawsuits. Insurers generally require that you have at least $300,000 in liability coverage on your home and automobile before you can buy umbrella coverage, which picks up after you've exhausted your homeowner and auto liability limits. You'll pay about $175 to $300 a year for $1 million in umbrella coverage. For more information, see How to Add a Personal Liability Umbrella Policy.

Prepare for an emergency. Stock up before bad weather strikes so you can get by if the power goes out. For example, the Duracell DPP-300EP Powerpack 300 (about $135) will let you run small appliances and jumpstart your car. See our 7 Must-Haves for Your Emergency Kit slide show for more items that can come in handy when disaster strikes.

Buy a tablet computer. These lightweight, inexpensive alternatives to laptop computers can offer you access to the Web so you can send e-mails, keep up with family and friends on Facebook and even watch movies. Kiplinger's pick for "best tech value" for a tablet is the Amazon Fire HD 6. The 8GB model sells for $99. Invest another $99 for a year's worth of Amazon Prime service so you can stream movies and TV shows from Amazon.

Best Healthcare Technology Stocks To Watch For 2015

Preserve old photos. Scanning photos allows you to create digital copies that you can easily organize, archive and share with family. Good scanners start at about $200. For more information, see 6 Things You Must Know About Preserving Your Photos.

Fund a Roth IRA for your grandchild. Give your grandchild a jumpstart on retirement savings by helping him or her open a Roth IRA. Children of any age with earned income from a job -- even if it's from lawn mowing or babysitting -- can contribute to a Roth. Schwab will let a parent open a custodial IRA for a minor for just $100. If you contribute just the $264 in extra Social Security benefits you get in 2015 and not a cent more, that amount will grow to $5,735 in 40 years (assuming an 8% return).

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now

Making smart investments in the gold industry is not an easy task. Firms suffer from different problems, such as high cash costs which leave them exposed to declining gold prices, and difficulties while executing expansion projects. Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) and Kinross Gold (KGC) are two such gold miners, which not only face different challenges, but very different outlooks.

An Overpriced Long-Term Investment

Agnico Eagle is a mid-size gold mining company with operations in Canada, Mexico, and Finland. It is one of the fastest growing firms in the industry, with production reaching 1 million ounces of gold in 2012. Agnico Eagle has not only bought several mines in a very quick manner, such as its most recent project at Goldex, but has maintained low cash costs.

According to third-quarter financial results, the firm has been producing gold at a cash cost of $690, which is quite low compared to the industry average. This has allowed the firm to harness enough free cash flow, and complete projects. Its flagship mine in Quebec, LaRonde, is responsible for much of the revenue generated by Agnico Eagle, as it produces gold at an extremely low cost. Hence, increased gold output seems to be a natural path, especially since the company�� assets are located in stable and mining-friendly countries. One of the firm�� specialties seems to be its ability to invest in operations with significant growth potential. Pinos Altos in Mexico is a great example: several satellite deposits, such as Creston Mascota, were uncovered, leading to greater output projections.

Hot Dow Dividend Companies To Own In Right Now: Numerex Corp.(NMRX)

Numerex Corp. provides business services, technology, and products used in the development and support of machine-to-machine solutions for the enterprise and government markets worldwide. The company offers Numerex DNA that includes hardware and smart devices, cellular and satellite network services, and software applications that are delivered through Numerex FAST (Foundation Application Software Technology). Its customers subscribe to device management, network, and application services through hosted platforms. The company distributes its products through value added resellers, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturers. It serves security, energy and utilities, healthcare, financial services, government, transportation, and supply chain markets. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By John Udovich]
Small cap machine-to-machine (M2M) stock Elecsys Corp (NASDAQ: ESYS) jumped 8.99% yesterday and is up 254% over the past year, meaning it might be time to take a closer look at the stock and its performance verses other small cap M2M stocks like Digi International Inc (NASDAQ: DGII), Numerex Corp (NASDAQ: NMRX) and Sierra Wireless, Inc (NASDAQ: SWIR). First of all though, I should mention that machine-to-machine (M2M) broadly refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type and this can be through any type of technology ranging from instruments to networks to applications that create connections between devices.
[By Seth Jayson]
Margins matter. The more Numerex (Nasdaq: NMRX ) keeps of each buck it earns in revenue, the more money it has to invest in growth, fund new strategic plans, or (gasp!) distribute to shareholders. Healthy margins often separate pretenders from the best stocks in the market. That's why we check up on margins at least once a quarter in this series. I'm looking for the absolute numbers, so I can compare them to current and potential competitors, and any trend that may tell me how strong Numerex's competitive position could be.

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now: ProShares Short MSCI Emerging Markets (EUM)

ProShares Short MSCI Emerging Markets (the Fund) seeks daily investment results that correspond to the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index adjusts the market capitalization of index constituents for free float and targets for index inclusion 85% of free float-adjusted market capitalization in each industry group in global emerging markets countries. The Fund takes positions in securities and/or financial instruments that, in combination, should have similar daily return characteristics as -100% of the daily return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a price return index. The Fund�� investment advisor is ProShare Advisors LLC. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Anthony Mirhaydari]
Editor�� note: This column is part of our Best Stocks for 2014 contest. Anthony Mirhaydari’s pick for the contest is the�ProShares Short MSCI Emerging Markets ETF�(EUM).

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now: H.J. Heinz Company (HNZ)

H. J. Heinz Company manufactures and markets food products for consumers, and foodservice and institutional customers in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company primarily offers ketchup, condiments and sauces, frozen food, soups, beans and pasta meals, infant nutrition, and other food products. It sells its products through its sales organizations, independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, cooperative, and independent grocery accounts; convenience stores; bakeries; pharmacies; mass merchants; club stores; foodservice distributors; and institutions, including hotels, restaurants, hospitals, health-care facilities, and government agencies. The company was founded in 1869 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Steve Symington]
10. Not including its equity holdings and recently acquired 50% stake in Heinz (NYSE: HNZ ) , Berkshire is made up of 56 distinct subsidiary businesses.
[By Matt Koppenheffer]
On negative implications of the H.J. Heinz� (NYSE: HNZ ) �deal.�A questioner wondered whether Berkshire's preferred position in the Heinz deal and the high price paid suggested that Buffett isn't optimistic about the returns available in the market. Buffett responded simply that that was "totally inaccurate." Munger later added on: "As you said, the report was totally wrong."
[By Eric Volkman]
McGraw-Hill Financial's (NYSE: MHFI ) S&P Dow Jones Indices has brought in a pair of big-name stocks to replace issues on two of its signature products. After the close of trading on June 6, both the S&P 100 and the 500 will be home to General Motors (NYSE: GM ) . The stock replaces Heinz (NYSE: HNZ ) , which was recently acquired by a consortium led by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B ) .
[By Eric Volkman]
It's official: Warren Buffett is the new Master of Ketchup. In a special meeting convened for the purpose, H.J. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ ) stockholders today voted overwhelmingly in favor of being acquired by a consortium led by the veteran investor�Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) . Roughly 95% of the votes, representing around 60% of Heinz's outstanding stock, were in support of the buyout.

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now: Gerdau SA (GGB)

Gerdau S.A. (Gerdau), incorporated on November 20, 1961, is a producer of long rolled steel. Gerdau operates steel mills that produce steel by direct iron-ore reduction (DRI) in blast furnaces and in electric arc furnaces (EAF). In Brazil, the Company operates four integrated steel mills, including its mill, Acominas mill, an integrated steel mill located in the state of Minas Gerais. It has a total of 60 steel producing units globally, including joint ventures and associate companies. The joint ventures include a unit located in the United States for the production of flat rolled steel and another unit in India. The associate companies are Aceros Corsa in Mexico; Corporacion Centroamericana del Acero in Guatemala, and Industrias Nacionales (INCA) in the Dominican Republic. Through its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company also engages in other activities related to the production and sale of steel products, including reforestation, electric power generation projects; coking coal, iron ore and pig iron production, as well as fab shops and downstream operations. On August 12, 2010, Gerdau acquired the remaining 49.1% interest in the Cleary Holdings Corp. On October 21, 2010, Gerdau, through its wholly owned subsidiary Gerdau Ameristeel acquired TAMCO Steel.

Gerdau offers a range of steel products, which are manufactured according to a variety of customer specifications. Its product mix includes crude steel (slabs, blooms and billets) sold to rolling mills, finished products for the construction industry, such as rods and structural bars, finished products for industry, such as commercial rolled steel bars and machine wire and products for farming and agriculture, such as poles, smooth wire and barbed wire. The Company also produces specialty steel products utilizing technology and normally with a certain degree of customization for the manufacture of tools and machinery, chains, locks and springs, for the automotive and mechanical industries. As of December 31, 2010, the Company operat! ed 19 steel production units in the United States and Canada through its principal entity, Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation. Gerdau operates in four business segments: Brazil (Brazil Business Operation), includes Brazil�� operations, except specialty steel; North America (North America Business Operation), includes all North American operations, except Mexico and specialty steel; Latin America (Latin America Business Operation), includes all Latin American operations, except for Brazil, and Specialty Steel (Specialty Steel Business Operation), includes the specialty steel operations in Brazil, Spain and the United States.

Crude Steel (Billets, Blooms and Slabs)

Crude steel products include billets, blooms and slabs. Billets are bars from square sections of long steel that serve as inputs for the production of wire rod, rebars and merchant bars. They are the main product of the Acominas mill. Blooms are used to manufacture products, such as springs, forged parts, heavy structural shapes and seamless tubes. Slabs are used in the steel industry for the rolling of a range of flat rolled products. Slabs are mainly used to produce hot and cold rolled coils, heavy slabs and profiles. Crude steel products are produced using either the continuous casting or conventional process.

Common Long Rolled Products

Common long rolled products represent a major portion of the Company�� production. The Company�� main long rolled products include rebars, merchant bars and profiles, which are used mainly by the construction and manufacturing industries.

Drawn Products

Drawn products include barbed and barbless fence wire, galvanized wire, fences, concrete reinforcing wire mesh, nails and clamps. These products are not exported and are sold to the manufacturing, construction and agricultural industries.

Specialty Steel Products

Gerdau produces specialty and stainless steel used in tools and machinery, chains, fasteners! , railroa! d spikes and special coil steel at its Acos Villares and Piratini units in Brazil, at Corporacion Sidenor units in Spain and at the MacSteel units in the United States. In the United States, Gerdau Ameristeel produces special sections, such as grader blades, smelter bars, light rails, super light I-beams, elevator guide rails and other products that are made on demand for the Company�� clients, which are mainly manufacturers. It is a joint venture with the Kalyani Group in India, in which Gerdau has a 73.2% interest in the joint venture.

Flat Products

Gerdau�� Acominas mill produces slabs, which are rolled into flat products, such as hot and cold steel coils, heavy plates and profiles. In addition, the Company�� distribution subsidiary, Comercial Gerdau, resells flat steel products manufactured by other Brazilian steel producers. Gerdau Ameristeel also supplies flat steel to its customers through its joint venture Gallatin located in Kentucky. Gallatin is a joint venture with ArcelorMittal, Canada, a flat steel producer, and has nominal installed capacity of 1.4 million tons of flat steel per year.

The Company competes with Commercial Metals Company, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics Inc., ArcelorMittal Inc., ArcelorMittal Brasil, Usiminas Group and CSN.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Jonas Elmerraji]

Up first is Brazilian steel stock Gerdau (GGB) a name that's been one of the NYSE's worst large-cap performers this year. Since the start of January, Gerdau is down more than 29%. Truth be told, GGB has been looking bearish for a while now. If you'd sold it the last time it looked toxic, you'd have spared yourself close to 11% losses.

But shares look primed for another leg lower from here -- and Gerdau is worth an updated look today.

GGB spent most of 2014 forming a bearish descending triangle pattern. The descending triangle is a price pattern that's formed by horizontal support below shares (in this case at $5.75) and downtrending resistance to the topside. As GGB bounced in between those two technically important levels, it was getting squeezed closer and closer to a breakdown below that $5.75 price floor. That sell trigger happened on Tuesday.

That means that if you own GGB, it's time to unload this stock.

That bearish bet is being confirmed by relative strength in GGB. This stock's relative strength line has been downtrend all year long, an indication that Gerdau is underperforming the rest of the market. That's a big red flag to heed in shares this week.

Read More: 3 Stocks Spiking on Big Volume
[By Jeff Reeves]
Gerdau (GGB) is one of the best ways to play this trend if you believe in a commodities shift. The Brazilian steel company trades for a forward P/E of about 5, and a price/sales of just a bit more than 0.7. That�� an incredible valuation.
[By Victor Selva] -largest producer in the sector.

Why Not No. 1?

Brazil-based Gerdau has three main advantages. Size ��though it�� a strong pro ��is not necessarily one of them. To start with, Gerdau is a highly integrated company, with annual iron ore production capacity totaling 11.5 million metric tons, enabling it to be over 80% and 40% self-sufficient in Brazil and the U.S., respectively, and thus hedging itself from volatility in raw material prices.

Second, the company has a relatively modern fleet of furnaces, mainly composed of electric arc furnaces (EAFs), which are more energy-efficient than traditional blast furnaces and should result on a more flexible supply.

Last, the location is also a positive factor: with a high geographical diversification, Gerdau has still managed to maintain a strong leadership in the markets where it operates (particularly in Brazil and the U.S.). This allows it, on the one hand, to supply many different markets and therefore reduce risks of local economic underperformances and, on the other hand, to profit from low-cost labor in Brazil. In addition, the upcoming sporting events ��2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics ��are expected to generate a strong inflow of investments in infrastructure in the country, with Gerdau as a potential beneficiary of this.

In spite of being the biggest worldwide, I believe that ArcelorMittal doesn�� count with these characteristics. Further, as players in the industry are so atomized, being the No. 1 producer implies having only 6% of the global market share, which doesn�� give ArcelorMittal a superior bargain power than its peers. And though it�� still a very diversified and vertically integrated group, its costs will tend to be higher than those of Gerdau, since its furnaces are primarily blast furnaces and its labor expenses are higher as the company is based in Europe.

US Steel will also have to deal with an old and inefficient fleet of furnaces, w

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now: Key Energy Services Inc. (KEG)

Key Energy Services, Inc. operates as an onshore rig-based well servicing contractor in the United States and internationally. The company offers rig-based services, including the maintenance, workover, and recompletion of existing oil and gas wells; completion of newly-drilled wells; and plugging and abandonment of wells at the end of their lives, as well as specialty drilling services to oil and natural gas producers. It also provides fluid management services, such as vacuum truck services, fluid transportation services, and disposal services for operators, whose wells produce saltwater or other non-hydrocarbon fluids; and equipment trucks that are used to move large equipment from one well site to the next, as well as supplies frac tanks, which are used for temporary storage of fluids associated with fluid hauling operations. In addition, the company operates a fleet of hot oilers for pumping heated fluids that are used to clear soluble restrictions in a wellbore; and offers intervention services, such as coiled tubing, pumping, and nitrogen service. Further, it provides fishing services that involve recovering lost or stuck equipment in the wellbore utilizing an array of fishing tools; rental equipment comprising drill pipe, tubulars, pressure-control equipment, power swivels, and foam air units, as well as handling tools comprising Hydra-Walk pipe-handling units and services; oilfield service equipment controls, data acquisition, and digital information flow services; and drilling, project management, consulting, and reservoir engineering services. The company was formerly known as Key Energy Group, Inc. and changed its name to Key Energy Services, Inc. in December 1998. Key Energy Services, Inc. was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Roberto Pedone]
Another energy player that's starting to move within range of triggering a big breakout trade is Key Energy Services (KEG), which provides well services to oil companies, foreign national oil companies and independent oil and natural gas production companies. This stock is off to a modest start in 2013, with shares up by just 7.9%.

If you look at the chart for Key Energy Services, you'll notice that this stock has recently spiked higher back above both its 200-day moving average at $7.16 a share and its 50-day moving average of $7.28 a share. That move is quickly pushing shares of KEG within range of triggering a big breakout trade.

Traders should now look for long-biased trades in KEG if it manages to break out above some near-term overhead resistance levels at $7.75 to $7.96 a share and then once it take out more resistance at $8.04 a share with high volume. Look for a sustained move or close above those levels with volume that hits near or above its three-month average action of 2.03 million shares. If that breakout triggers soon, then KEG will set up to re-test or possibly take out its 52-week high at $9.55 a share. Any high-volume move above that level will then give KEG a chance to tag its next major overhead resistance levels at $10 to $11 a share.

Traders can look to buy KEG off any weakness to anticipate that breakout and simply use a stop that sits right below some key near-term support levels at $7.14 a share or $6.83 a share. One can also buy KEG off strength once it takes out that breakout levels with volume and then simply use a stop that sits a comfortable percentage from your entry point.
[By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG) were down 6.51 percent to $7.32 after the company issued Q4 update.

PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF) tumbled 5.85 percent to $28.16 after the company priced secondary offering of 15 million shares at $28 per share. Gulfport Energy (NASDAQ: GPOR) was down, falling 6 percent to $55.66 after the company reported 2013 exit rate of 27,780 barrels of oil equivalent per day. RBC Capital downgraded Gulfport Energy from Outperform to Sector Perform and cut the price target from $64.00 to $61.00.
[By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Key Energy Services (NYSE: KEG ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.

Top Healthcare Technology Companies To Buy Right Now: Limelight Networks Inc.(LLNW)

Limelight Networks, Inc. provides content delivery network services in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It offers content delivery services to deliver media files, such as video, music, games, and software, or live streaming of corporate or entertainment events; video content management services, which enable organizations to publish, manage, syndicate, analyze, and monetize video content through a cloud-based service; Web content management services that enable content publishers to create, manage, and publish Web content through a cloud-based service; and mobility and monetization services that help publishers to deliver content to media-enabled mobile handsets or tablets. The company also provides Web acceleration services, which enhance Web experiences for content, online commerce transactions, and Web applications; cloud storage services that comprise customer services for the storage of media and enterprise content; and global con sulting and technical services that enable customers optimize their publishing, e-commerce, mobility, or content distribution workflows, as well as to provide support for network architecture design, storage infrastructure, Web application development, creative design, live event execution, and design, deployment, and management of infrastructure. In addition, it offers reporting and analytics services that help customers to manage and configure content delivery and presentation. The company offers its services to traditional and emerging media companies or content providers, including businesses operating in the television, music, radio, newspaper, magazine, movie, videogame, software, and social media industries; and enterprises, technology companies, and government entities doing business online. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Bryan Murphy]
For Google, the shift in the way the justice system looks at and handles patent infringement claims meant its subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, unsuccessfully bid to convince U.S. courts that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was illegally using Google's/Motorola's approach for sending data to a mobile device. For Akamai Technologies, it means that the technology company will need to re-explain - and ultimately re-prove - to an appellate court that Limelight Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:LLNW) infringed on an Akamai patent even though a lower court had already ruled in favor of AKAM. And for Soverain Software, the legal system's new attitude meant it wouldn't even bother hearing its appeal for a case it lost against Newegg last year... a case it's tried against several companies, losing every time.
[By jaggom]
Akamai (AKAM) and Limelight (LLNW) are two completely different prospects that investors can consider in the content delivery services space. Both have been performing differently. Let's take a look at which one suits investors' portfolios the best.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Economy Wilts, Fed Tapers, Market Climbs

The U.S. economy grew, sort of, at a miniscule annual rate of 0.1 percent in the first quarter, according to the Commerce Dept. This preliminary reading, the first of three, was far below pessimistic expectations. This underperformance has occurred several times since the on-again, off-again recovery officially began in June 2009.

No wonder U.S. government bond yields have declined this year, contrary to most expectations, with the 10-year Treasury going from 3 percent to as low as 2.6 percent.

The first quarter’s economic weakness was attributed primarily to a 7.6 percent decline in exports, partly because of economic weakness in Europe and Asia. Poor weather, a favorite excuse for everything that went wrong during the winter, probably played a part in the export slump.

Also noteworthy, however: Business spending on equipment fell at a 5.5 percent annual pace in the first three months of the year, the largest decline since 2009.

Regardless of the causes, the tepid (to be generous) GDP reading marks a continuation of the still-sluggish growth in the current five-year economic expansion.

The report came right before the Federal Reserve announced that it is continuing to reduce, or taper, its bond purchases to $45 billion a month, from the original $85 billion. The Fed says it’s starting to see faster growth after the harsh winter.

The Fed also maintained its guidance on short-term interest rates, saying they would remain near zero for a “considerable time” after the bond-buying program ends later this year. The current expectation is that the Fed won’t start to raise interest rates until well into 2015.

However, evidence of a possible economic rebound came the next day, May 2. The federal government's jobs report for April showed a jump of 288,000, with a sharp decline in the official unemployment rate to 6.3 percent.

Meanwhile, corpor! ate profits continue to grow, albeit modestly. Earnings for the first quarter have been better than minimal expectations. They’ve helped to support the broad stock market during its turmoil when various high-flying stocks came back to earth.

As of now, the pop of the speculative bubble hasn’t spread significantly into the broad market. The Standard & Poor’s 500 ended April only slightly below its all-time closing high. The benchmark is up 1.9 percent this year. Some might be disappointed after 2013′s 30 percent rise. But we view it as part of a desirable consolidation period after a big advance that started in 2012.

Also this week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has been the laggard among the major stock-market indices, finally caught up with the others, which hit new all-time highs earlier this year. The Dow closed in record territory for the first time in 2014.

The Dow has trailed this year mostly because of how its 30-stock index is calculated. The S&P 500 is weighted by the market capitalization of its 500 components. In sharp contrast, the Dow is a price-weighted index. So the stocks with the highest share price have the greatest weight.

While this may have been appropriate in the Dow’s early days, it makes no sense now. In other words, the Dow is increasingly disconnected from the broad market. But here’s the additional, bigger twist to the story:

In September 2013, as part of its periodic housecleaning, the Dow decision-makers dropped three stocks from the DJIA. All were depressed, low-priced issues: Alcoa (NYSE: A), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). Together, they then accounted for only 3 percent of the total DJIA average.

Two of the additions were Visa (NYSE: V) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), which then assumed second and third places in price, after International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM). The third addition was the relatively high-priced Nike (NYSE: NKE). So all three ! new compo! nents together got a disproportionate influence in the Dow, particularly compared with the trio they replaced.

The Dow’s selection committee has been frequently criticized in the past for “buying high and selling low.” That characterization looks increasingly accurate. In the first four months of 2014, these were the three biggest Dow losers: Goldman Sachs, down 10 percent; Visa, off 9 percent; and Nike, a 7 percent decline.

The Dow is easy to follow. But it’s becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Top 5 Building Product Companies To Invest In Right Now

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Sunday, October 26, 2014

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014

Yesterday, JPMorgan Chase� (NYSE: JPM ) shares closed above the $50 mark for the first time since March. With its recent spat of legal demons rearing their ugly heads, and a contentious shareholder vote in the near future, the bank seems to be gaining despite serious headwinds. The bull market yesterday certainly pushed the bank higher, but the same cannot be said for today. While the major indexes are down an hour into trading, the bank is up by 0.59%.

Legal battles
The most recent lawsuit against JPMorgan comes from California, where it is alleged that the bank used robo-signing to cut corners while handling home foreclosures. So basically, bank employees were simply signing off (electronically) on paperwork that they hadn't actually reviewed. And while the lawsuit is in the early stages, this is just one more instance of new issues popping up for a bank that many had thought was above the fray.

Voting
There has been a great deal of speculation over whether or not Jamie Dimon will lose his dual roles as CEO and Chairman of the Board. Adding fuel to the fire, Dimon spoke up and said that if the vote produces a change in his role at JPM, he would exit stage left. Some analysts are already bandying about the potential losses the bank would suffer if Dimon left -- 10% and so on.

Top 5 Undervalued Companies To Buy Right Now: Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3)

Fibria Celulose SA, formerly Votorantim Celulose e Papel SA, is a Brazil-based company involved in the production and sale of short fiber pulp. The Company operates pulp manufacturing plants in Aracruz (Espirito Santo), Tres Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul), Jacarei (Sao Paulo) and Veracel (Bahia). Additionally, the Company is engaged in the cultivation of eucalyptus. It has plantations in the Brazilian states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia and Espirito Santo. In 2011, the Company sold a business unit active in paper production. The Company has a number of subsidiaries in Brazil and abroad, including Normus Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, Fibria Overseas Finance Ltd and Fibria Celulose (USA) Inc, among others. On October, 2013, the Company announced merger by incorporation of Normus Empreendimentos e Participacoes Ltda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, in order to simplify the corporate structure. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Julia Leite]
Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3), the world�� largest pulp producer, climbed after settling a tax dispute with Brazil over profits at its foreign units. Iron-ore producer Vale SA (VALE5) gained before a report due this weekend forecast to show manufacturing is still expanding in China, the company�� main export market.
[By Harry Suhartono]
The Ibovespa dropped 1.8 percent as iron-ore producer Vale SA (VALE5), whose main export market is China, snapped a two-day gain. Pulp producer Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3) retreated after posting quarterly earnings that trailed analysts��estimates. Brazil plans to sell dollar bonds due in 2025, creating a new benchmark security in international markets, and buy back notes maturing in as little as four years.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014: Meadwestvaco Corporation (MWV)

MeadWestvaco Corporation (MWV) provides packaging solutions to the healthcare, personal care and beauty, food, beverage, home and garden, tobacco, and commercial print industries worldwide. The company?s Packaging Resources segment produces bleached paperboard, Coated Natural Kraft paperboard, and linerboard. Its Consumer Solutions segment designs and produces multi-pack cartons and packaging systems primarily for the beverage take-home and tobacco market. In addition, it offers a range of converting and consumer packaging solutions, including printed plastic packaging and injection-molded products used for personal care, beauty, and pharmaceutical products; and dispensing and sprayer systems for personal care, beauty, healthcare, fragrance, and home and garden markets. In addition, this segment has a pharmaceutical packaging contract with a mass-merchant, and manufactures equipment that is leased or sold to its beverage and dairy customers to package their products. The c ompany?s Consumer & Office Products segment manufactures, sources, markets, and distributes school and office products, time-management products, and envelopes in North America and Brazil through both retail and commercial channels. Its Specialty Chemicals segment manufactures, markets, and distributes specialty chemicals derived from sawdust and other byproducts of the papermaking process in North America, South America, and Asia. Its products include activated carbon used in emission control systems for automobiles and trucks, as well as for water and food purification applications, and performance chemicals used in printing inks, asphalt paving, adhesives, and lubricants for the agricultural, paper, and petroleum industries. MWV?s Community Development and Land Management segment involves in real estate development, forestry operations, and leasing activities. MeadWestvaco Corporation was founded in 1888 and is based in Glen Allen, Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Lauren Pollock]
MeadWestvaco Corp.(MWV) expanded its cost-cutting efforts and said it plans to simplify the structure of its packaging businesses, as it strives to improve its performance.
[By Will Ashworth]
I don�� know about you but I definitely use several of its products on a regular basis. In fact, right here on my desk beside my computer is a small, Five Star notebook for jotting down ideas. I grew up on Hilroy notebooks, a brand brought to the table in its 2012 merger with MeadWestvaco�� (MWV) Consumer and Office Products division. MWV shareholders received one-third of an ACCO share for every MWV share. Since the deal was completed, ACCO stock has lost 42% of its value.
[By ovenerio]
The company has a current ROE of 14.5% which is higher than the industry median. Also, it is higher than the ones exhibit by Sealed Air Corp (SEE) and Sonoco Products Co (SON). In general, analysts consider ROE ratios in the 15-20% range as representing attractive levels for investment. So for investors looking at those levels, MeadWestvaco Corp (MWV) and Packaging Corp of America (PKG) could be the options. It is very important to understand this metric before investing, and it is important to look at the trend in ROE over time.
[By Eric Volkman]
MeadWestvaco (NYSE: MWV ) is continuing to deliver payouts for its shareholders. The company has declared a fresh quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, to be handed out on September 3 to shareholders of record as of August 31.�That amount matches each of the company's regular quarterly payouts stretching back to late 2010. Prior to that, it paid $0.23 per share.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014: Resolute Forest Products Inc (RFP)

Resolute Forest Products Inc., AbitibiBowater Inc., is a global forest products company. The Company�� products include newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products. The Company owns or operates pulp and paper mills and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. On November 7, 2011, it began doing business as Resolute Forest Products. As of December 31, 2011, it owned or operated 18 pulp and paper mills and 23 wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea. The Company�� segments include newsprint, coated papers, specialty papers, market pulp and wood products. On January 14, 2011, it acquired the noncontrolling interest in Augusta Newsprint Company (ANC). In April 2012, the Company held approximately 48.8% of the outstanding shares of Fibrek Inc. In December 2012, the Company purchased Bowater Mersey Paper Company Limited. oklyn Power Corporation. Advisors' Opinion:

[By Seth Jayson]
Calling all cash flows
When you are trying to buy the market's best stocks, it's worth checking up on your companies' free cash flow once a quarter or so, to see whether it bears any relationship to the net income in the headlines. That's what we do with this series. Today, we're checking in on Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP ) , whose recent revenue and earnings are plotted below.
[By Saibus Research]
Consolidation has been incremental in the paper and forest products industry. In May 2012, Resolute Forest Products (RFP) (formerly AbitibiBowater) announced that it had acquired 50.1% of Fibrek and acquired the remaining 49.9% in August. 2011 saw International Paper (IP) announce a hostile takeover of Temple-Inland and after offering $32/share in cash as well as the assumption of $600M of TIN's debt, IP was able to close the deal in February 2012. 2011 also saw Rock-Tenn (RKT) acquire Smurfit-Stone to create the number two player in the linerboard segment with 20% market share, trailing only International Paper's 40%. We see these moves as a prudent step to consolidation in the industry as certain types of paper such as newsprint and uncoated free sheet (office paper) are seeing falling demand due to increased use of digital resources.
[By George Putnam]
Resolute Forest Products (RFP), formerly known as AbitibiBowater, entered into bankruptcy in early 2009, weighed down by roughly $6 billion in debt.
[By Seth Jayson]
There's no foolproof way to know the future for Resolute Forest Products (NYSE: RFP ) or any other company. However, certain clues may help you see potential stumbles before they happen -- and before your stock craters as a result.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014: Berry Plastics Group Inc (BERY)

Berry Plastics Group, Inc. (Berry), incorporated on November 18, 2005, is a provider of plastic consumer packaging and engineered materials. Berry owns 100% interest of Berry Plastics Corporation. Berry sells its solutions predominantly into end markets, such as food and beverage, healthcare and personal care. The Company operates in three segments: Rigid Packaging, Engineered Materials and Flexible Packaging. As of September 19, 2012, the Company supplied its customers through 82 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States (68 locations) and select international locations (14 locations). In June 2012, the Company acquired 100% interest of Frans Nooren Beheer B.V. and its operating companies (Stopaq). In September 2011, the Company acquired 100% interests of Rexam Closures Kentucky Inc., Rexam Delta Inc., Rexam Closures LLC, Rexam Closure Systems LLC, Rexam de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Rexam Singapore PTE Ltd., Rexam Participacoes Ltda. and Rexam Plasticos do Brasil Ltda. (collectively, Rexam SBC). In August 2011, Berry acquired 100% interest of LINPAC Packaging Filmco, Inc.

Rigid Packaging

The Company�� Rigid Packaging business consists of containers, foodservice items, house wares, closures, over caps, bottles, prescription vials, and tubes. The end uses for these products are consumer-oriented end markets, such as food and beverage, retail mass marketers, healthcare, personal care and household chemical. The Company manufactures a collection of container products. The Company produces 32 ounce or thermoformed polypropylene (PP) drink cups and offers a product line with sizes ranging from 12 to 52 ounces. The Company�� products of house wares market is focused on producing semi-disposable plastic home and party and plastic garden products. The Company produces closures and over caps across several of its product lines, including continuous-thread and child-resistant closures, as well as aerosol over caps. The Company also provides a range of custom closure ! solutions including fitments and plugs for medical applications, cups and spouts for liquid laundry detergent, and dropper bulb assemblies for medical and personal care applications.

The Company competes with Airlite, Letica, Polytainers, Silgan, Aptar Group and Reynolds.

Engineered Materials

Berry�� Engineered Materials business primarily consists of pipeline corrosion protection solutions, specialty tapes and adhesives, polyethylene-based film products, and can liners served to a variety of end markets including oil, water and gas infrastructure, industrial and consumer-oriented end markets. The Company produces anti-corrosion products to infrastructure, rehabilitation and pipeline projects throughout the world. Products include heat-shrinkable coatings, single- and multi-layer sleeves, pipeline coating tapes, anode systems for cathodic protection and epoxy coatings. These products are used in oil, gas and water supply and construction applications.

Berry is the manufacturer of cloth and foil tape products. Other tape products include range of splicing and laminating tapes, flame-retardant tapes, vinyl-coated and carton sealing tapes, electrical, double-faced cloth, masking, mounting, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) medical and specialty tapes. These products are sold under the National, Nashua and Polyken brands in the United States. The Company manufactures and sells a portfolio of PE-based film products to end users in the retail markets. These products are sold under brands, such as Ruffies and Film-Gard. Its products include drop cloths and retail trash bags. The Company manufactures customized PP-based, woven and sewn containers for the transportation and storage of raw materials, such as seeds, titanium dioxide, clay and resin pellets.

The Company offers range of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) meat film and agricultural film. Berry�� products are used primarily to wrap fresh meats, poultry and produce for supermarket applic! ations. I! n addition, the Company offers a line of boxed products for food service and retail sales. Berry sells trash-can liners and food bags for offices, restaurants, schools, hospitals, hotels, municipalities and manufacturing facilities. The Company also sells products under the Big City, Hospi-Tuff, Plas-Tuff, Rhino-X and Steel-Flex brands. The Company produces both hand and machine-wrap stretch films, which are used by end users to wrap products and packages for storage and shipping. It sells stretch film products to distributors and retail and industrial end users under the MaxTech and PalleTech brands.

The Company competes with AEP, Sigma and 3M.

Flexible Packaging

The Company�� Flexible Packaging business consists of barrier, multilayer film products, as well as finished flexible packages, such as printed bags and pouches. Berry manufactures and sells a range of film products ranging from mono layer to coextruded films having up to nine layers, lamination films sold primarily to flexible packaging converters and used for peelable lid stock, stand-up pouches, pillow pouches and other flexible packaging formats. The Company also manufactures barrier films used for cereal, cookie, cracker and dry mix packages that are sold directly to food manufacturers like Kraft and Pepsico. It also manufactures films for industrial applications ranging from lamination film for carpet padding to films used in solar panel construction.

The Company supplies component and packaging films used for personal care applications. Berry is a converter of printed bags, pouches and roll stock. Its manufacturing base includes integrated extrusion that combines with printing, laminating, bagmaking, Innolok and laser-score converting processes. The Company is a supplier of printed film products for the fresh bakery, tortilla and frozen vegetable markets with brands, such as SteamQuick Film, Freshview bags and Billboard. The Company manufactures specialty coated and laminated produ! cts for a! range of packaging applications. Its products are sold under the MarvelGuard and MarvelSeal brands and are sold to converters who transform them into finished goods.

The Company competes with Printpak, Tredegar and Bemis.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Bryan Murphy]
It's certainly not as big as Berry Plastics Group Inc. (NYSE:BERY). It's not even as big as Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG). There's one big way AEP Industries (NASDAQ:AEPI) can certainly compete head-on with BERY and TG right now, however... as an investment opportunity. Thanks to the bullish bump AEPI gave us last week, a long-standing selloff has been revered, and there's a whole lot of ground to make up.
[By John Udovich]
One of the most famous scenes in the cult classic, the Graduate, was when Mr. McGuire�took Dustin Hoffman�� character aside and said�"Ben, I want to say one word to you, just one word: Plastics"; but what about the Berry Plastics Group Inc (NYSE: BERY) and its performance verses that of the�iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IVV), iShares Russell Midcap Index Fund ETF (NYSEARCA: IWR) and iShares S&P SmallCap 600 Index ETF (NYSEARCA: IJR)? I should mention that plastics and the Berry Plastics Group was not the place to be yesterday as the stock took a tumble on reduced guidance.

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014: Domtar Corp (UFS)

Domtar Corporation, incorporated on August 16, 2006, designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a range of fiber-based products, including communication papers, specialty and packaging papers and adult incontinence products. The Company operates in three business segments: Pulp and Paper, Distribution and Personal Care. Its Pulp and Paper segment consists of the manufacturing, sale and distribution of communication, specialty and packaging papers, as well as softwood, fluff and hardwood market pulp. The Company�� Distribution segment includes the purchasing, warehousing, sale and distribution of its paper products and those of other manufacturers. These products include business and printing papers, certain industrial products and printing supplies. Its Personal Care segment consists of the manufacturing, sale and distribution of adult incontinence products.The Company is an integrated marketer and manufacturer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America for a variety of customers, including merchants, retail outlets, stationers, printers, publishers, converters and end-users. The Company produces incontinence care products marketed primarily under the Attends brand. The Company owns and operates Ariva. On May 10, 2012, the Company acquired EAM Corporation. In June 2013, the Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Xerox Corp paper and print media products business in the United States and Canada. In July 2013, Domtar Corp announced that completion of the acquisition of Associated Hygienic Products (AHP) from DSG International. In January 2014, the Company acquired Laboratorios Indas, SAU.

Pulp and Paper

The Company produces 4.2 million metric tons of hardwood, softwood and fluff pulp at 12 of its 13 mills. The majority of its pulp is consumed internally to manufacture paper and consumer products, with the balance being sold as market pulp. The Company also purchases papergrade pulp from third parties. The Company has 10 pulp and paper mills (eight in the! United States and two in Canada), with an annual paper production capacity of approximately 3.4 million tons of uncoated freesheet paper. Its paper manufacturing operations are supported by 15 converting and distribution operations, including a network of 12 plants located offsite of its paper making operations. In addition, it has forms manufacturing operations at three offsite converting and distribution operations. Approximately 81% of its paper production capacity is in the United States, and the remaining 19% is located in Canada.

The Company produces market pulp in excess of its internal requirements at its three non-integrated pulp mills in Kamloops, Dryden, and Plymouth, as well as at its pulp and paper mills in Espanola, Ashdown, Hawesville, Windsor, Marlboro and Nekoosa. The Company sells approximately 1.6 million metric tons of pulp per year depending on market conditions. Approximately 50% of its trade pulp production capacity is in the United States, and the remaining 50% is located in Canada. The fiber used by its pulp and paper mills in the United States is hardwood and softwood, both being readily available in the market from multiple third-party sources. The fiber used at its Windsor pulp and paper mill is hardwood originating from a variety of sources, including purchases on the open market in Canada and the United States, contracts with Quebec wood producers��marketing boards, public land where it has wood supply allocations and from its private lands. The softwood and hardwood fiber for its Espanola pulp and paper mill and the softwood fiber for its Dryden pulp mill, is obtained from third parties, directly or indirectly from public lands, through designated wood supply allocations for the pulp mills. The fiber used at the Company�� Kamloops pulp mill is all softwood, originating from third-party sawmilling operations in the southern-interior part of British Columbia.

The Company uses various chemical compounds in its pulp and paper manufacturing facili! ties that! it purchases, primarily on a central basis, through contracts. For pulp manufacturing, it uses numerous chemicals, including caustic soda, sodium chlorate, sulfuric acid, lime and peroxide. For paper manufacturing, it also uses several chemical products, including starch, precipitated calcium carbonate, optical brighteners, dyes and aluminum sulfate. It owns power generating assets, including steam turbines, at all of its integrated pulp and paper mills, as well as hydro assets at four locations: Espanola, Ottawa-Hull, Nekoosa and Rothschild. The Company�� business papers include copy and electronic imaging papers, which are used with ink jet and laser printers, photocopiers and plain-paper fax machines, as well as computer papers, preprinted forms and digital papers. These products are primarily for office and home use. The Company�� commercial printing and publishing papers include uncoated freesheet papers, such as offset papers and opaques. These uncoated freesheet grades are used in sheet and roll fed offset presses across the spectrum of commercial printing end-uses, including digital printing. Its publishing papers include tradebook and lightweight uncoated papers used primarily in book publishing applications, such as textbooks, dictionaries, catalogs, magazines, hard cover novels and financial documents. Design papers, a sub-group of commercial printing and publishing papers, have features of color, brightness and texture and are targeted towards graphic artists, design and advertising agencies, primarily for special brochures and annual reports. These products also include base papers that are converted into finished products, such as envelopes, tablets, business forms and data processing/computer forms.

The Company also produces paper for several specialty and packaging markets. These products consist primarily of base stock for thermal printing, flexible packaging, food packaging, medical gowns and drapes, sandpapers backing, carbonless printing, labels and other coating a! nd lamina! ting applications. The Company also manufactures papers for industrial and specialty applications, including carrier papers, treated papers, security papers and specialized printing and converting applications. The Company sells business papers primarily to paper stationers, merchants, office equipment manufacturers and retail outlets. The Company distributes uncoated commercial printing and publishing papers to end-users and commercial printers, mainly through paper merchants, as well as selling directly to converters. The Company sells its specialty and packaging papers mainly to converters, who apply a further production process, such as coating, laminating, folding or waxing to its papers before selling them to a variety of specialized end-users.

Distribution

The Company's Distribution business involves the purchasing, warehousing, sale and distribution of the Company's various products and those of other manufacturers. These products include business, printing and publishing papers and certain packaging products. These products are sold to diverse customer base, which includes small, medium and large commercial printers, publishers, quick copy firms, catalog and retail companies and institutional entities. The Company's Distribution business operates in the United States and Canada under a single banner and umbrella name, Ariva. Ariva operates throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest areas from 16 locations in the United States, including 12 distribution centers serving customers across North America.

Personal Care

The Company's Personal Care business sells and manufactures adult incontinence products and distributes disposable washcloths marketed primarily under the Attends brand name. The Company is a supplier of adult incontinence products sold into North America and Northern Europe, selling to hospitals (acute cares) and nursing homes (long-term care) and the Company has a growing presence in the homecare and retail channels. The C! ompany op! erates two manufacturing facilities, with each having the ability to produce multiple product categories. The Company also has a research and development facility and production lines which manufacture high quality airlaid and ultrathin laminated absorbent cores.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Rich Smith]
On Wednesday, Xerox announced that it has received a binding offer from French paper company Antalis to buy Xerox's European paper and�print media�products business. This follows Xerox's March announcement that it had agreed to sell its U.S. and Canadian paper operations to Canada's Domtar (NYSE: UFS ) .

Hot Paper Companies To Watch For 2014: Rock-Tenn Co (RKT)

Rock-Tenn Company (RockTenn), incorporated on September 20, 1985, is a North America's integrated manufacturer of corrugated and consumer packaging. The Company operates locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Puerto Rico and China. The Company operates in three segments: Corrugated Packaging, consisting of its containerboard mills and its corrugated converting operations; Consumer Packaging, consisting of its coated and uncoated paperboard mills, consumer packaging converting operations and merchandising display facilities, and Recycling, which consists of its recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations. On June 22, 2012, the Company acquired Mid South Packaging LLC. On October 28, 2011, the Company acquired four entities doing business as GMI Group.

Corrugated Packaging Segment

The Company is a producer of linerboard and corrugated medium (containerboard) measured by tons produced and a producer of graphics pre-printed linerboard in North America. It operates an integrated system, which manufactures containerboard, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging and preprinted linerboard for sale to industrial and consumer products manufacturers and corrugated box manufacturers. It produces a range of corrugated containers designed to protect, ship, store and display products made to its customers' merchandising and distribution specifications. It also converts corrugated sheets into corrugated products ranging from one-color protective cartons to point-of-purchase packaging. Corrugated packaging is used to provide protective packaging for shipment and distribution of food, paper, health and beauty and other household, consumer, commercial and industrial products and in the case of graphically enhanced corrugated packaging for retail sale, particularly in club store locations and retail sale. It also provides structural and graphic design, engineering services, and custom and standard automated packaging machines, offering customers turn-key instal! lation, automation, line integration and packaging solutions. It feeds linerboard and corrugated medium into corrugators, which flutes the medium to specified sizes, glues the linerboard and fluted medium together and slits and cuts the resulting corrugated paperboard into sheets to customer specifications. Its container board mills and corrugated container operations are integrated with its containerboard production used internally by its corrugated container operations. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 (fiscal 2012), sales of corrugated packaging products to external customers accounted for 65.7% of its net sales.

Consumer Packaging Segment

The Company operates an integrated system of coated recycled mills and a bleached paperboard mill, which produces paperboard for its folding carton operations and third parties. The Company is a manufacturer of folding cartons in North America measured by net sales. Its folding cartons are used to package food, paper, health and beauty and other household consumer, commercial and industrial products for retail sale. It also manufactures express mail envelopes for the overnight courier industry. Folding cartons protect customers��products during shipment and distribution and employ graphics to promote them at retail. It manufactures folding cartons from recycled and virgin paperboard, laminated paperboard and substrates with specialty characteristics, such as grease masking and microwaveability. It prints, coats, die-cuts and glues the cartons to customer specifications. It ships finished cartons to customers for assembling, filling and sealing. It employs a range of offset, flexographic, gravure, backside printing, and coating and finishing technologies. It supports its customers with package development, innovation and design services and package testing services.

The Company manufactures temporary and permanent point-of-purchase displays. The Company designs, manufactures and packs temporary displays for sal! e to cons! umer products companies. These displays are used as marketing tools to support new product introductions and specific product promotions in mass merchandising stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, home improvement stores and other retail locations. It also designs, manufactures and pre-assemble permanent displays for the same categories of customers. It makes temporary displays from corrugated paperboard. It provides contract packing services, such as multi-product promotional packing and product manipulation, such as multipacks and onpacks. The Company manufactures lithographic laminated packaging for sale to its customers, which require packaging with graphics and strength characteristics.

The Company operates an integrated system of specialty recycled paperboard mills, which includes its Seven Hills Paperboard LLC (Seven Hills) joint venture. Its specialty recycled paperboard mills, excluding Seven Hills, produce paperboard for its solid fiber interior packaging converting operations and third parties, and its Seven Hills joint venture manufactures gypsum paperboard liner for sale to its joint venture partner. It sells its specialty recycled paperboard to manufacturers of solid fiber interior packaging, tubes and cores, and other paperboard products. It also converts specialty paperboard into book covers and other products. Its 65% owned subsidiary, RTS, designs and manufactures solid fiber and corrugated partitions and die-cut paperboard components. It manufactures and sells its solid fiber and corrugated partitions principally to glass container manufacturers and producers of beer, food, wine, spirits, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and to the automotive industry. During fiscal 2012, sales of consumer packaging products to external customers accounted for 27.5% of its net sales.

Recycling Segment

The Company�� recycled fiber brokerage and collection operations provide a strategic advantage to its mills. Its recycling operations procure recovered paper (or! recycled! fiber) for its paper mills, as well as for third parties from factories, warehouses, commercial printers, office complexes, grocery and retail stores, document storage facilities, paper converters and other wastepaper collectors. It handles a range of grades of recovered paper, including old corrugated containers, office paper, box clippings, newspaper and print shop scraps. It operates recycling facilities, which collects, sorts, grades and bales recovered paper and after sorting and baling, it transfer recovered paper to its paperboard mills for processing, or sell it to the United States manufacturers of paperboard, as well as manufacturers of tissue, newsprint, roofing products and insulation and to export markets. It also collects aluminum and plastics for resale to manufacturers of these products. Its waste reduction services extract additional recyclables from the waste stream by working with customers. In addition, it operates a nationwide fiber marketing and brokerage system, which serves regional and national accounts, as well as its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills and sells scrap materials from its converting businesses and mills. Brokerage contracts provide bulk purchasing. Its recycling facilities are located close to its recycled paperboard and containerboard mills, ensuring availability of supply with reduced shipping costs. During fiscal 2012, sales to external customers accounted for 6.8% of its net sales.

Advisors' Opinion:

[By Eric Volkman]
After rocking EPS expectations for its Q2 earlier this week, RockTenn (NYSE: RKT ) is celebrating with a higher dividend. The company has declared a payout of $0.30 per share of its class A common stock, to be distributed on May 20 to shareholders of record as of May 7.
[By Ben Levisohn]
Shares of MeadWestvaco have jumped 4.6% to $37.29 today at 3:36 p.m. Other paper packaging companies, however, aren’t getting a boost from the news or from Merrill’s upgrade. Shares of Rock-Tenn (RKT) have dipped 0.1% to $100.34, International Paper (IP) has ticked up 0.1% to $48.74and Packaging Corp. of America (PKG) is little changed at $65.40.
[By Dr. Melvin Pasternak]
Although I still remain cautious because of fears of tapering by the Federal Reserve, I am again trading from the long side. One stock I am currently attracted to is Rock-Tenn (NYSE: RKT), an international paper and packaging company, which according to Bloomberg, sports the highest earnings per share (EPS) in its industry.
[By BLOGS.BARRONS.COM]
Ng writes that MLP creation could produce 30% to 50% gains in three stocks: International Paper (IP), Packaging Corp. of America (PKG) and Rock-Tenn Co. (RKT).� International Paper shares are up 2% this morning to 47.67; Packaging Corp. is 2% higher at 63.69 and Rock-Tenn is up 1.5% to 47. He continues: